Kerryism of the DayThe senator's caveats and curlicues.

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"I am for raising that minimum wage.^{1 2} … So I am very much in favor of individual efforts—federal government and others—moving to help create the ability for people on the wage to be able to make it.^{3 4 5} "

—Washington, D.C., April 15, 2004

[1] But you have to do it a rate where you're not creating upheaval in the economy.

[2] But in many public places, we have living wages already being put in place.

[3] and do better

[4] But within the private sector, I think we have to ratchet it up at a rate that is acceptable to the marketplace so we don't have an economic dislocation.

[5] But we have to start to get people able to earn more.

Kerry version:

"I am for raising that minimum wage. But you have to do it a rate where you're not creating upheaval in the economy. But in many public places, we have living wages already being put in place. … So I am very much in favor of individual efforts—federal government and others—moving to help create the ability for people on the wage to be able to make it and do better. But within the private sector, I think we have to ratchet it up at a rate that is acceptable to the marketplace so we don't have an economic dislocation. But we have to start to get people able to earn more."

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William Saletan is Slate's national correspondent and author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War. Follow him on Twitter here.

Photograph of John Kerry by Marc Serota/Reuters.

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